Beggar's Chicken

Method

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Rub the chicken inside and out with all the marinade ingredients and refrigerate 4 hours.

   Mark done

2. Soak the shiitake and the lotus leaves separately in hot water 30 minutes.

   Mark done

3. Fry the pork belly in the oil until its fat runs, then add the shiitake, mustard greens, ginger and spring onions and cook 5 minutes. Cool.

   Mark done

4. Pack the stuffing into the chicken's cavity and truss the legs.

   Mark done

5. Wrap the chicken tightly in the soaked lotus leaves, then in baking paper.

   Mark done

6. Mix the flour, salt and water into a stiff dough and roll it out to 1 cm thick.

   Mark done

7. Encase the wrapped chicken completely in the dough, sealing every join and patching any cracks.

   Mark done

8. Bake at 180C fan / 200C / gas 6 for 3 hours.

   Mark done

9. Rest 30 minutes in the shell, then crack it open at the table with a mallet and peel back the leaves.

   Mark done

Chef’s Tips

• Seal every crack in the clay. A leak dries the bird out.
• The lotus leaves are the flavour; the clay just holds it shut.
• Rest it half an hour before breaking it open.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• A quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger per tablespoon of fresh is the standard ratio if you are working from the spice rack rather than a fresh root.

Pairing Suggestions

• Steamed rice
• Blanched greens
• Shaoxing wine

Storage & Reheating

The cooked chicken refrigerates 3 days. Do not attempt to re-seal it.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.